Packaging and shipping container for eggs and the like



Nov. 4, 1969 A. EISENBERG PACKAGING AND SHIPPING CONTAINER FOR EGGS AND THE LIKE Original Filed March 2. 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m T m v W dyred'zs'ezzezg ATTORNEYS kmm.

Nov. 4, 1969 A. EISENBERG 3,476,306

PACKAGING AND SHIPPING CONTAINER FOR EGGS AND THE LIKE 'Jriginal Filed March 2, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I N VENTOR.

Wren E YS United States Patent US. Cl. 229-40 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Molded cellular egg tray and closure therefor providing a flat surface for stacking the trays for storage, display or shipment. The egg tray has clusters of egg pockets having hollow molded protective posts extending above the margins of the tray between the egg pockets. Certain of these protective posts extend along the margins of the tray and open to the ground. A closure means is provided for the tray, providing a fiat stackable top for the tray, which may be in the form of a flat cover extending along the tops of the protective posts and having opposite depending sides, or which may be in the form of a sleeve having a fiat top cover slipped along the tray and having opposite sides, These sides of the cover extend downwardly along opposite sides of the tray and each have at least one locking tab bent to extend inwardly along the inner side of the tray and having locking engagement with the hollow interior portions of the protective posts opening toward the ground to lockingly hold the cover to the tray.

This application is a division of my application Ser. No. 620,127, filed Mar. 2, 1967.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS A prior application Ser. No. 473,744 filed by me on July 21, 1965. now Patent No. 3,352,477 is directed to a cellular egg tray enclosed in a sleeve and having center posts extending along the center of the tray, engaging the undersurface of the sleeve and protecting the eggs during display and transportation.

My present invention, however, differs from that of my prior Patent No. 3,352,477 in that the protective tray is particularly adapted for containing more than a dozen eggs, and the center posts alternate between high and low center posts, to facilitate the removal of the top tray of a stack of nested trays, when it is desired to load the trays with eggs. Another distinction over my prior application is that the posts extend upwardly from at least two opposite edges of the tray to protect the eggs therein and facilitate the placing of a cover about the tray, and the securing of the cover to the hollow interior portions of the posts.

A further improvement is that the package for the loaded egg trays is in the form of a rectangular corrugated board carton having a top hood with locking tabs extending from the side walls of the hood and engageable with slots opening along the side walls of a next adjacent lower hood, to accommodate interlocking of the cartons with each other and hold the cartons in aligned relation with respect to each other during transportation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION AND OBJECTS In carrying out the present invention, I provide a protective molded tray particularly adapted for eggs generally having ovate cells or pockets and protective posts extending upwardly of the cells. The posts alternate between high and low center posts extending upwardly of the ice junctions of clusters of cells, to protect the eggs and to facilitate nesting of the empty trays, and the removal of the nested trays for shipment. I further provide a simple interlocking cover for the trays having interlocking engagement with certain posts, extending along the sides of the tray.

An object of the invention is to improve upon the molded egg trays heretofore in use, by providing upward ly extending center posts at the juncture of each cluster of egg receiving pockets of the tray and by alternating the heights of the center posts between low and high center posts, to facilitate the stacking of the empty trays and the removal of the stacked trays for use, in which center posts extend along at least two sides of the tray and have hollow interior portions opening downwardly toward the bottom of the tray to facilitate the interlocking of a cover to the hollow interior portions of the center posts extending along the sides of the tray.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved form of molded egg tray and protective cover therefore, wherein the tray has hollow posts extending along at least two opposite sides of the tray in which the cover is in the form of the sleeve having tabs having in terlocking engagement with the hollow interior portions of the posts.

These and other objects of the invention will appear from time to time as the following specification proceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken through an egg tray constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention showing a cover locked to the top of the tray.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary plan view of blank forming a cover for the tray.

FIGURE 3 is a side view of a modified form in which invention may be embodied in which the cover is in the form of a sleeve extending along the top and downwardly along the sides of an egg tray, and locked in position by engagement with the interior of a hollow protective post with certain parts broken away and certain other parts shown in longitudinal section in order to illustrate the lock for the cover to the egg tray.

FIGURE 4 is a transverse sectional view taken along line IV--IV of FIGURE 3.

An egg tray 11 is shown in FIGURE 1 as being a molded cellular tray which may be molded from wood pulp or any other suitable material, in a conventional manner. The tray 11 has a plurality of rows of integrally formed cells or egg containing pockets 16 having side walls 18, 18 sloping upwarly from the bottoms thereof, at relatively step angles, to provide generally ovate egg pockets substantially conforming to the lower halves of the eggs contained within the pockets. The side walls 18 between the pockets terminate into ledges 19 separating the individual pockets, while the side walls at the junctures of each cluster of four pockets terminate into hollow protective posts 20 and 21. The protective posts 20 extend slightly above said and end walls 23 of the tray and the protective posts 21 extend a substantial distance above said side walls to a height greater than the height of the eggs to be contained within the tray, to form a protection for the eggs. Posts 25, 25 having hollow interior portions 27, 27 are also molded to extend upwardly of the side and end walls 23 of the tray between each two pockets of each cluster of pockets. The hollow posts 25, 25 extend for the height of the posts 21, and while the posts 25, 25 are shown in FIGURE 1 as extending about the sides and ends of the tray, in certain instances they need only extend along opposite sides of the tray.

In storing the trays for use, the trays may be nested one on top of the other, with the high posts nested within each other. The low posts 20, however, while serving to protect the eggs, enter into the large diameter portions of the next adjacent upper posts. This provides clearance between the short posts and their next adjacent posts, within which the short posts are nested with a resultant reduced number of posts in relatively close nested engagement with each other, facilitating the separation of the trays for use but not sacrificing the protection afforded by the posts.

The end posts 25, besides protecting the eggs, serve as interlocking supports for closure means for the egg tray, shown as being in the form of a cover 28, which may be placed over the tray (FIGURE 1) and may have tabs 29 engaged with the hollow interior portions of the enld posts, as by the tabs 29, extending upwardly along the inner and outer sides of the end posts 25 from the bottoms thereof, into the hollow interior portions 27 thereof.

The cover 28 may be formed from a flat piece of card board which may be corrugated board with opposite sloping sides 26 bent along score lines 28 (FIGURE 2) to conform to the sloping sides of the end posts 25. The tabs 29 may then be bent along score lines 29 and 29 to extend upwardly within the hollow interior portions 27 of the end protective posts 25 and thereby lock the cover in position over the eggs in the tray.

The cardboard from which the cover 28 is made preferably should be of a material in which the tabs when once bent inwardly will acquire a more or less permanent set. One set of tabs 29 may thus initially be bent inwardly and engaged within the hollow interior portions of the posts 25. The cover may then be hinged about the score line 28 downwardly into engagement with the tops of the posts 25 and 21. The tabs 29 at the opposite side of the tray may then be tucked within the hollow interior portions 27 of the posts 25 into engagement with the walls of the posts to lock the cover in position as shown in FIGURE 2.

This provides a semi-permanent lock, and while it can be released by placing a finger within each hollow interior portion of the end ports 25 and grasping the individual tab by the finger, a tear strip (not shown) may be provided in the cover, to enable the cover to readily be released for the removal of eggs from the tray.

FIGURES 3 and 4 illustrate a modified form of closure means for egg trays constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention. In this form of the invention the closure means is in the form of an open ended sleeve 69 which may be slipped along a tray 60. The tray 60, like the tray 11, is shown as having high protective hollow posts 61 extending along the center thereof and as having hollow end posts 62 extending along the sides thereof and opening downwardly. The end posts 62 provide hollow interior wall portions 63, to be interlockingly engaged by locking tabs 65, pressed inwardly of side walls 66 and 67 of the sleeve 69. The sleeve 69 is herein shown as being rectangular in cross section although it may be formed to conform to the sides of the egg trays.

The rectangular sleeve may, of course, be widened to contain more than one tray 60 or to contain a tray like the tray 11, in which case the locking tabs 65 will have locking engagement with the hollow interior portions 27 of the end posts 25.

As shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, the sleeve 69 includes a cover 70 bent to be hinged downwardly from the top of the side wall 66 to rest on the tops of the end posts 62 and the center posts 61. A flap 71 extends along the opposite side of said cover and is bent to extend downwardly along the side wall 67 and form a part of said side wall. The flap 71 has spaced locking tabs 72 depending therefrom for engagement within slits 73 formed in the side wall 67.

When the tray 60 is filled with eggs it may be placed in the sleeve 69 from the top thereof. When placing the tray in the sleeve, the locking tabs are first pressed inwardly to engage within the hollow interior wall portions 63 as the tray is placed within the sleeve. The cover is then hinged over the top of the protective posts 61 and 62, and the locking tabs 72 are lockingly engaged within the slits 73, locking the sleeve in closed position and positively locking the tray within the sleeve.

This forms a positive locking means for the tray, which may only be released by tearing the tabs 72. Where it may be dseired to afford ready access to the tray, a conventional tear strip (not shown) may extend along the cover 70.

While I have herein shown and described several forms in which the invention may be embodied, it should be understood that various variations and modifications in the invention may be attained without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts thereof.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a packaging device for eggs and the like, a cellular molded trap having a plurality of clustered egg pockets molded therein generally ovate in form, and having steeply inclined side walls and a marginal edge portion extending about said carton, said side walls at the juncture of each cluster of egg pockets extending upwardly above said marginal edge portion and being joined to form hollow protective posts, certain of said posts extending along the marginal edge portion of said tray and having hollow downwardly opening interior portions accessible from beneath the marginal edge portion of the tray, closure means for said tray resting on the tops of said protective posts and having opposite depending wall portions extending downwardly along certain of said marginal protective posts to positions adjacent the downwardly opening end portions thereof, said depending wall portions each having at least one locking tab bent inwardly to be lockingly engaged with the open ends of the adjacent posts and extend upwardly along the hollow interior portions thereof, to thereby lock the closure means to cooperate with the tray and form a closure therefor.

2. The packaging device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the depending wall portions depend along opposite ends of the tray and the locking tabs depend therefrom to extend inwardly therefrom and lockingly engaged within the hollow interior portions of said marginal posts.

3. The packaging device in accordance with claim 1, wherein the depending wall portions extend along the outer sides of the marginal posts extending along opposite sides of the tray and each have at least one locking tab bent to be lockingly engaged within the hollow interior portions of the protective posts extending along 0pposite sides of the tray to lockingly hold the closure means to the tray.

4. The packaging device for eggs in accordance with claim 1, wherein the closure means is in the form of an open-ended sleeve and the depending wall portions form side walls for the sleeve and have inwardly pressed locking tabs adapted to extend upwardly within and have locking engagement with the insides of certain of the hollow protective posts extending along the marginal edge portions of the tray.

5. The packaging device of claim 1, wherein the sleeve is rectangular in form, having a top, a parallel bottom and side walls connecting said top and bottom together, wherein one of the depending wall portions forms one of said parallel side walls and the other of said depending wall portions is the form of a flap extending downwardly along said opposite parallel side Wall and is adapted to have locking engagement therewith, and wherein at least one locking tab is provided in at least one of said depending wall portions and is bent inwardly to be pressed upwardly along the inner sides of an associated hollow interior portion of a marginal post to have locking engagement therewith.

(References on following page) 5 6 References Cited 3,224,618 12/1965 Vigue 217-265 UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,352,477 11/1967 Elsenberg 22941) 21082564 6/1937 Benoit 229 29 DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Exammer 1 27 6/1945 Grant 217-265 5 US. Cl. X.R.

3,163,345 12/1964 Schwertfeger 22929 217-26.5; 229-25, 29, 45

um'mu STA'IES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE 0F CORRECTION patent 476F100 Dated November 4, I HM Inventor() CU Iii HL'HhLI'g It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent. and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

'uluum 2, Hm; 2 I. "lhr|' -l' n1-" should he Hu-rulur". ulunm 2. line 155, after "of" insun "a Tnlunm 2, Hm.- 52, "upwurly" shuuld he -up\ .'urdl v--. 011mm 2', line 53, "smp" shnuld he "steep".

( ulmnn 15. line ()0, .ulu-s "run" Haw! 1 puniun (Tnlunm 4 line HI. "dsL-irud" shnuid he --dusiru|- (.ulunm 4. line 20, "1 mp" shuuid ha "Iran Signed and sealed this 9th day of May 1970 (SEA Attest:

EDWARD M- FLETCHER,J'R, WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR. Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents Column UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3 Dated November 4, 1969 Inventofl Alfred ElSenberg It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2, line 21, "therefore" should be therefor Column 2, line 35, after "of" insert a Column 2, line 52, "upwarly" should be upwardly Column 2, line 53, "step" should be steep Column 2, line 60, "said" should be side Column 3, line 66, "after "top" insert portion Column 4, line 10, "dseired" should be desired 4, line 20, "trap" should be tray This certificate supersedes Certificate of Correction [issued May 9, 1970.

Signed and sealed this 14th day of July 1970.

" sEAL) -1Attest:

"EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. WILLIAM E. SCI-IUYLER, JR. jAttesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

